Video: A plug for green vehicles at Staples HQ

The automotive products featured at the 4th annual AltWheels Fleet Day melded gear-head know-how, environmentalism and old-fashioned business acumen.

Dan McDonald

The automotive products featured at the 4th annual AltWheels Fleet Day melded gear-head know-how, environmentalism and old-fashioned business acumen.

Gas-guzzling hulks of steel and chrome were out. Green was in. The throttled blast of automotive past was traded in for an electric whirr.

As part of the transportation summit, an array of green technology was on display in the Staples world headquarters parking lot Monday, including hybrids, fuel cells, plug-in electrics, natural gas-run sedans, trucks that use biodiesel for fuel, pickups that run with an 85 percent ethanol fuel mix.

For some of the electric hybrids on the display, the engine would have no need to turn on until the vehicle surpassed 40 mph.

The event is intended to provide an industrywide cross section of best transportation practices for universities, municipalities, and companies, said Alison Sander, founder of AltWheels.

"Gas prices have become a boardroom issue. No one can survive on $4 per gallon," she said.

New technology can automatically shut an engine off if it idles for a preset amount of time, saving money and the environment, which would particularly help with delivery services.

"It takes the driver out of it," said Denis Lenehan, Northeast district sales manager for Actsoft Inc.

With idling technology, Staples could save an estimated $1.7 million annually depending on gas prizes.

The provision is also good for the environment, as one gallon of diesel, which can be used in an hour of idling, can produce 22.2 gallons of CO2 emissions.

About 300 people from 114 companies, 23 municipalities in 15 states showed up for the event. Around 30 vehicles were on display.

Companies, whether major, mid-size or small, did not miss the opportunity to peddle their wares.

Ford Motor Inc. held a press conference touting it's EcoBoost engine, an engine that can improve fuel efficiency by 20 percent, reduce CO2 emissions by 15 percent, while remaining more affordable than competitive technologies, according to John Viera, director of sustainable business strategies for Ford.

Ford also displayed a plug-in Escape a research prototype that has yet to hit the market.

Energy company Dennis K. Burke Inc. was on hand with trucks fueled with 85 percent ethanol mix as well as biodiesel-run pickups.

While there is some infrastructure available for such fuels Burke has opened the first E85 Ethanol station in the state gas station owners do not have a strong incentive to offer such products.

"You have to have someone with another agenda other than selling gasoline and coffee," said Kevin O'Leary, fleet line sales manager for Dennis K. Burke Inc.

And don't forget the scooters.

Sales of the motorized bikes eclipsed and doubled that of last year in the first six months of 2008, said Michael Houlihan, representative of Ego Vehicles LLC.

"You pay about 8 cents for every mile," he reasoned.

Honda, meanwhile, featured a Civic that ran on natural gas and thus had 98 percent less car emissions than the average gas-powered vehicle.

A kit can be bought to hook the car up to natural gas supply in a home.

The Honda has the equivalent capacity of eight gallons of gas. That fuel costs about $2.69 per gallon, said Peters.

That car, said Peters, could be available in New England next year.

Randolph Bryan drove down from New Hampshire to showcase his business, ConVerdant Vehicles, which converts hybrids into an electric plug-in hybrids and converts pickup trucks into electric hybrid or a pure electric vehicle.

For Bryan to convert a Prius into a plug-in electric hybrid, it would cost $6,500.

Such a conversion could improve the car's fuel efficiency between 50 percent to 100 percent.

"It's a statement of who you are," Bryan said.

Not all the technologies were new.

MassPort recently surpassed its 12 million miles with buses that run on compressed natural gas.

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